Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-07-28
RepLANr,Nc CORN.
A Practice Which Has Never Proved -
BE Very Profitable.

REPLANTINc CORN.
A Practice which Has Never Proved -
BE Very Profitable.
Let the reader think if he ever knew
rcplant corn to do any good. more than
to make little fodder. Ii replanting
missing hills is done it can not be until
sufficient time elapses to give all the
first planting chance to show itself and
often it is three weeks from the time of
the first planting before the replanting
is done Even two weeks difference in
the ages of different hills. gives the
older ones such decided advantage in
size that the younger are soon shaded
SO as to be deprived of their needed pro-
portion of light and air.
Then in cultivating all through the
season. any one who has worked In ,
oern-field knows how difficult it IS to
30 good work when the hills vary in
size. Cultivation, to be effective, must
oe adapted to the height of the corn,
as regards the depth of working, near
ness to the hills, and character OF
tools.
Another point, and an important one,
is that this replant corn will not bear
grain to any great extent because, in
addition to the reasons already given
why weak growth is induced, it will
not be properly and sufficiently fertil-
lied uith pollen dust The reader has
often seen single stalk Of corn grow.
ing ig itself in an open field, and has
noticed that, no matter how vigorous
may have been the growth. the at
tempt to produce grain resulted in a
cob'on which were only a fewscattered
kernels. The reason OF this is that If
the pollen dust produced in the tassel.
the male organs Of the plant, not
enough of it falls on the silks, the
female organs, to fertilize the germ.
of kernel, which IS at the base OF
every filament of silk. There is never
a grain of corn unless a grain of pullen
dust, the fertilizing element, finds its
way into the mouth Of each thread OF
silk, which is ;abe, and passes down
this to the germ lying at the base and
on the cob, and there. under the mys.
terry of the vital force, starts this
germ of life and Development When,
therefore. a stalk of corn stands by
itself, the winds carry a large part of
the pollen out of the reach of the silks,
and the germs fail to become fertilized
When in a field of other stalks the
breeze which carries its own dust away.
brings that Of others to it. These
facts also show how it is that different
kinds of corn so readily mix when
growing alongside.
Now, if one-fOurth of the hills scat
tered through the fields are two weeks
later than the other three-fourths, we
can see that these late hills will not
be ready to receive the pollen as it
falls from the tassels Of the older stalks
When they are ready the older and
more numerous tassels will have shed
all their pollen, and these must depend
on the few scattered stalks for fertili-
cation. And these are surrounded by
the other stalkswhich serve as a wind
break, that the chances are quite linn
tied that they are sufficiently pollen
zed. and all they amount to is a little
fodder. This lis mot what the replant-
ing is for usually, hence we advise, if
replantins Unnecessary, that the field be
given a shallow blowing or good cud.
tivation and narrowing and then re.
planted as "a whole. The soil now be-
being in better mechanical condition
and warmer, the seed will terminate
quickly and grow rapidly. The only
loss will lse the time taken in the first
planting. and the seed and one very
considerable gain will be the extra cult
IRE given the land and the consequent
destruction of millions of weeds that
have gerninated. - ,COlman's Rural
UOrtd